Monday 7 October 1940

Monday 7 October 1940

Mixed force of bombers and fighters attacked Yeovil.

Night: Major raids on London and Merseyside. Lesser attacks from Harwich to Newcastle and the Firth of Forth.

Weather: Occasional showers. Visibility fair with variable cloud.

Main Activity:

In the morning 127 German planes were engaged by eighteen No. 11 Group squadrons over Kent and Sussex.

The attack resumed at 12.30 when Luftflotte 2 again sent over a series of small waves from Calais to Dover. More than 150 Bf 109s flew in and No. 11 Group had to call upon No. 12 Group to stand by. For the third attack at 3.30 p.m. the Luftwaffe again used Bf 109s and sent in fifty via Dymchurch.

These machines made for Biggin Hill and London. At the same time a mixed force of Ju 88s, Bf 109s and Bf 110s from Cherbourg in formations stepped up to 26,000 feet delivered an attack with eighty high-explosive and six oil-bombs on the Westland aircraft works at Yeovil.

Between 5 and 9 p.m. seven raids were plotted from Cherbourg to Swansea, eleven from Le Havre to Selsey Bill, twenty-seven from Dieppe to Beachy Head, two from Cap Gris Nez to Dungeness, twenty-six from Holland to Harwich, Newcastle and Spurn Head, and seven from Denmark to the Firth of Forth. Hostile efforts were mainly concentrated on London and Merseyside although bombs on Hatfield damaged three Lysanders belonging to No. 239 Squadron, an aircraft was destroyed at Ford and other bombs fell on Westhampnett, Tangmere, Eastleigh and Lee-on-Solent. Bomber Command countered the flow of traffic with a raid of 147 bombers on the German capital and the invasion ports.

In Berlin, meanwhile, Göring put a new five-point plan for the war against Britain. In it he frankly admitted that the demoralisation of London and the provinces was one aim and he described the air operations against the islands as ‘merely an initial phase’. The plan he outlined demanded:

1. Absolute control of the Channel and the English coastal areas.

2. Progressive and complete annihilation of London, with all its military objectives and industrial production.

3. A steady paralysing of Britain’s technical, commercial, industrial and civil life.

4. Demoralisation of the civil population of London and its provinces.

5. Progressive weakening of Britain’s forces.

Far from being progressively weakened, the RAF was fighting back with increased strength. On the 7th Fighter Command flew 825 sorties and lost 17 planes to the Luftwaffe’s 21 one of which was an He 115 seaplane.

Examination of eight Bf 109s shot down on the 7th revealed that they were from LG 2 and each carried a 250 kg. bomb. They were operating in small formations of 6–18 aircraft and flying 2–3 sorties per day.